2023 Kia Soul Electrical Problems

Before the accident which my car was totaled, I would take it in with issues. Electrical lights coming on the car would stop .my transmission locking up . I would tell them that there was something wrong with the car . I had videos to show pannel lights coming on at 70 on freeway and car locking up and would just stop . That's what happened to son driving. My car was totaled. Why should I loose and now I don't have a vehicle .

NHTSA ID

11740264

Incident

May 9, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Soul. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument panel became inoperable. The instrument panel went blank while operating the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.

NHTSA ID

11725778

Incident

Mar 20, 2026

Mileage

45,000 mi

Since I purchased the car the steering wheel will jerk, when im on a 2 lane road. It always jerks towards on-coming traffic, and it only does this when there is a car coming in the opposite lane and is just about to pass me. I have to fight with the steering wheel to get it back to go straight. Because of this whenever I am on a 2 lane road like this I always drive slow. This is the first car I've owned with this feature so I wasn't sure if that was just a glitch in the feature and just dealt with it. Which ni do realize now that was stupid on my part. Also in the past few days the drivers side door speaker sometimes works fine other times it gets all static and I have to turn all the sound to the passenger side. With that 3 other things have happened in the same time frame, im not sure if they are all connected but they seemed to have happened all at the same time. The passenger side window will go down from the driver's side door control but only sometimes goes back up. The horn stopped working last night along with the beep when you hit lock on the key fob twice. Im not sure if these are just minor things due to my lack of vehicle knowledge or if they are a real concern, so that is why I wanted to bring it to attention, in case anyone else has experienced any of these issues. The car only has 12000 miles, I only travel locally so im not sure if thats problematic or not. But as I said id rather be safe and let these issues be known.

NHTSA ID

11689118

Incident

Jun 21, 2023

I am reporting a recurring safety issue with my Kia vehicle that began around Labor Day 2025. The vehicle has abruptly shut down multiple times while I was driving on public roads in Hillsborough County, Florida. These shutdowns occurred without any dashboard warning lights, including while stopped at red lights and while in motion, creating dangerous traffic situations. Despite having a scheduled service appointment on September 5, 2025, I took the vehicle to the dealership a day earlier—on September 4—due to the increasing frequency and severity of the issue. Upon reviewing my service history (dating back to 2022), I found no documentation that the battery had ever been tested, despite regular multi-point inspections performed at the dealership. A battery test performed during the September 4, 2025, visit revealed that the battery was failing. I was required to replace it at a cost of nearly $400. The service team confirmed that the battery was draining and likely the cause of the vehicle shutting down. This issue could have resulted in a serious accident. I believe the failure to identify the battery problem earlier represents a potential safety oversight.

NHTSA ID

11686327

Incident

Sep 4, 2025

Periodically while driving, I receive error notifications on the dashboard through both sound alerts and warning lights, resulting in the affected systems temporarily ceasing to function. The dashboard provides specific warnings: "check forward safety system," "check lane safety system," "check speed limit system," "check high beam assist system," and "check inattentive driving warning system." These warnings cycle through with flashing lights and ongoing alert noises. While the issue sometimes resolves after the first or second warning, it often continues cycling through all of the previously described warnings before returning to normal. On some occasions, the warning lights remain on for an extended period, with the longest observed duration being 16 minutes. There are no observable patterns to the frequency or cause of the issue, although it is occurring at least once per day now; initially ~2x/week. It happens at any time of day or night and in any weather conditions. I've scheduled service for this issue 5 separate times. The first time, the dealership advised they did not have a fix and declined to take the car into the service department. The second time, the camera was replaced, but the issue persisted. The third time I took the car in for service, it was at the dealer for a week and I was advised the issue was part of the normal functioning of the car. The fourth time, the service techs did not make an effort to observe the problem and reported that the car was working as designed. The car is now in for service again. Each time I have scheduled service, I have provided them with a video of the problem. The continuous disabling of these safety features is not only distracting but also diminishes the value of the vehicle. I rely on these systems for my safety and purchased this vehicle specifically for these features. I am concerned that this ongoing issue may desensitize me to important warning signals and compromise the overall functionality of the car.

NHTSA ID

11620494

Incident

Nov 15, 2023

I had my vehicle in PARK in my driveway. I was standing outside the vehicle & after I pulled the keys out of the ignition, the vehicle started rolling backward. My feet were on the ground the whole time, the vehicle was in park. I pulled the emergency brake as it was rolling with my legs stuck between the car and the door. I was finally able to push myself into the car to hit the brake with my foot & the car stopped right as it hit the curb of the other side of the street. My legs are extremely bruised from this and if anyone had been behind the vehicle, they would have been ran over as I could not stop it even though it was in park. This just happened so it has not yet been inspected by a mechanic or the dealership. There were no warnings, messages, or symptoms before this happened. It was clearly sitting in park perfectly fine before the engine was turned off. This is extremely dangerous. I have a video from my security camera that shows the entire incident. I'm unable to upload.

NHTSA ID

11592773

Incident

Jun 5, 2024

Electrical system: instrument cluster/panel Replacement

NHTSA ID

11586686

Incident

May 2, 2024

[NHTSA SITE NOT ALLOWING ME TO UPLOAD DOCUMENTS - CONTACT ME FOR PICS/VIDEOS] All safety and driver assist malfunction warning lights display in succession - see pictures and video if upload-able. Had two Kia dealership service centers inspect and neither could replicate malfunctions nor would they document the issue. Incident has occurred sporadically between August and December 2023. If these aren't safety concerns (according to both dealerships), then when can a driver discern between fake and real malfunctions and safety failures. 8.23-24.23 - Spitzer Kia - purchased from and reported malfunctions on same/next day; told the windshield camera (sealed no less) is dirty or obstructed. Neither the case. Reported to salesman Caleb who consulted with service department. Told not a safety concern. 9/26/23 - Halleen Kia; Repair order 1709180/1 - Can't replicate; no diagnostic codes. Told not a safety concern. Dealership did not document on repair order. 11/8/23 - Spitzer Kia; Invoice - [XXX] Can't replicate. Told not safety concern unless warnings remain constant (not flashing). Dealership did not document on invoice. Asked if Spitzer reports these concerns to Kia. I got no response. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11562729

Incident

Aug 23, 2023

On 8/22/23, I purchased a 2023 Kia Soul Sport trim from Kia Atlanta South. Just two days later, the 12V system stopped working, and yesterday, on 8/6, I discovered the car, which I had owned for only two weeks and driven 950 miles, was low on oil. Some of those miles were already on the vehicle when I bought it. I suspect both the electrical system and the engine may be faulty. Despite my concerns, the dealership claimed they had no knowledge of any recalls, despite there being an issued one.

NHTSA ID

11536727

Incident

Aug 5, 2023

On wednesday July 19th, at approximately 1745 (5:45 pm) I got into my car and started it. I attempted to back out of the driveway and noticed my steering wheel was locked. I pulled forward, and put the car in park. I tried to turn the car off. It then restarted itself, revved the engine, turned the heater on, rolled down the windows and engaged the back up camera. The check engine light came on, the low oil light, and the battery light were all on. The car would not turn off, every time I pressed the off button it would idle strangely and turn itself back on. I had to remove the key fobs, and my phone from the vehicle (i have a remote start app) to get it to turn off. I had it towed to the dealership, who returned the car the next day and told me nothing was wrong and that it was in auxiliary mode. They showed me auxiliary mode and it did not do what had happened. I told them I would film it if the vehicle did it again. Yesterday July 21, 2023 the vehicle did it again, at approximately 2110 (9:10 pm). The dealership advised me to bring it back up today. While driving it up there the engine shut off while driving I was doing approximately 43mph with the keys located in the storage space near the gear shift. The entire car shut down, instrument cluster and all, my steering wheel locked, and i had to coast to the side of a road. The car then restarted itself and picked up where the cruise control had previously been set. It did this twice and I was almost hit by a large pick up truck the second time. Had the truck not braked in time I could have been killed, and had my daughter been with me she could have been seriously wounded. The dealership told me to limp it to them as a tow truck would not be avalible for hours. During the short drive the instrument cluster continued to fade in and out. The dealers only solution was to let them hold the car and drive it for the weekend while trying to replicate the problem. I have filmed it restarting, but not dying on the road

NHTSA ID

11533870

Incident

Jul 19, 2023

The instrument cluster is no longer displaying vital information. (Speedometer, tachometer, odometer, warning indicator lights, etc.) It still displays turn indicators and headlight indicators. The remedy is to replace the instrument cluster and have it recalibrated

NHTSA ID

11515124

Incident

Apr 2, 2023

I am driving on the highway. No construction. No traffic. Cruising. No problems. I get a dashboard warning "WRONG WAY! Turn around safely" It was on for at least 10minutes. Very worrisome. But the lane assist was still working.

NHTSA ID

11486261

Incident

Sep 24, 2022